A Fayth's Choice
by Duality Crest
Summary: The Fayth. They're there throughout the game, throughout his story, but has anyone ever stopped to consider their own story. May Contain Spoilers. Please R&R.
1. Introduction

Nineteen years ago, a beast never before seen, was born. In one night it levelled Zanarkand's great skyscrapers and giant causeways. It was viewed by many as the wickedest summon ever called, know one knew of its purpose, or even its true nature. All the people of Spira knew was that fayth had gathered on Gagazet's peak, and it was believed that Yu Yevon himself was the one calling it into existence.

Two years later, the Lady Yunalesca defeated this beast with help from her husband. Seeing the giant's demise, and the summoner's death, Bevelle turned its back on the promise to honour her father's name.

In the years since the beasts supposed death, Bevelle had instead turned their sights on the rest of Spira, and now had many, if not all cities and island communities of Spira, within her machina grasp. No one resisted, no one complained, and for most, life continued as normal. But now reports that airships were being shot down and boats were being pulled to the ocean depths by a creature unknown gave Bevelle cause for concern.

Fretful that Yunalesca had sensed their backstabbing treachery before she died, the nobles of Bevelle consoled themselves each night, until they believed the false truths that they fed to themselves.

_Yunalesca did destroy the beast. It is no more. These events are merely the actions of fiends._

But no amount of lying to themselves saved the people of Armenal. Sensing a great storm on the approach, they submerged their city within the great river that flowed through their land. Only there was no storm, merely destruction. The beast broke through the protective barrier given to them by Zanarkandcenturies ago to keep the water at bay, and then Armenal too fell to the beast. It now lies on the riverbed, a testament to Bevelle's arrogance.

Forced to accept the truth, Bevelle finally upheld on their promise to Yunalesca in the hope that someone might repeat her brave act, and that the next time the beast, an entity now known as Sin, is killed, it might be everlasting.

Bevelle hurriedly fashioned the teachings of Yevon, outlawing most forms of machina, and invented the pilgrimage. As they spread the newly created precepts across Spira, they searched for people to become fayth for the summons that would help give people hope in the meantime.

This is the story of those people, and what was on their mind as they thought of the future they are about to embark on, or the past theyare leaving behind.

Meet the fayth, when they were mere human…

**Aria**: A woman from Besaid. Merely a child when Sin was born, she often reflects on the events of that night, and how it has affected her life since then.

**Teneron**: A man with a fiery spirit, but a calm demeanour. He was stranded on Kilika Island nineteen years ago with the other foresters, the only people who went to Kilika, when Sins attacks deemed travel too dangerous. Now though, he has built a home there, and his family has moved from Luca to the island to be with him on their quiet island.

**Senka**: A lone fisherwoman on the Isle of Sumena. She likes to play blitzball, but since Sin's arrival, she is yet to be able to travel to Luca to perform her sport.

**Dentane**: This man, a resident of Luca, is a wealthy businessman, and alsoskilled in the bushido arts. Beneath his heavy facemask, his steady voice is enough to bring fear to financial enemies, and his thin, but long, sword and faithful dog are enough to bring fear to the deadliest of fiends.

**Janeron**: One of the few survivors of Armenal's destruction, he helped organise shelter in the caverns of Djose. Listen as his gruff voice reassures both human and Hypello alike that all will be well, while he tries to fight the storm raginginside him and keep hope alive within.

**Letana**: A woman, a monk of an obscure religion, fights the warmth of the plains of Macalania while she grows cold inside at the news that the beast, that Sin, has returned, and now the only way to preserve the world she loves, is to join the religion of someone else. Will she be able to blaspheme so and live with it? Will she be able to die with it? Will she be able to sleep with it?

**The Sisters Three**: Former residents of Bevelle, these three sisters now live in exile for opposing the treachery of their leaders. They come across a cavern in the Northern Grasslands, now known as the Calm Lands, and discuss where to go next. But before they make up their mind, they are confronted with an offer that only serves to prove them right. Honour has always been their best trait however, and they will soon prepare for another journey entirely.

**Yumeko**: A child orphaned many years ago and taken in by Bevelle's leadership. Now at the age of ten, but with wisdom that surpass his time, he must make the hardest decision of his short life. Whether to stay in this life to help protect those he loves now, or to die, at least partly, to help protect the world he loves forever.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Theremay be some references to places and events described in my other FFX story, The End of the War. This is because I intend this to follow on from the events described then.

I have not written for Anima due to her being relatively recent.

Also, credit goes to Renmiri for helping me with this by getting me videos of the encounters with the fayth, which hopefully gave me an insight to what sort of personality I should write for each.

For those wondering where Sumena is, and ultimately which aeon Senka is the fayth for, I have taken the liberty of creating an aeon that is not found in the game. It is called Leviathan, a water aeon. I felt the lack of a water aeon to complement the water element, unlike the other three elements which have an aeon, needed addressing, and for those wondering where it is in the game, it was destroyed many centuries ago, and long since faded from memory, along with the island, hence its absence.

May contain game spoilers.


	2. Aria

She used to love to sit up here, on the cliff that overlooked the beach. But that was before the beast.

When she was only a toddler, her father used to carry her up here so they could watch all the pretty lights of the nearby towers and the older children playing in the blue waters. Even at night, it was as bright as day. The towers were both home and office for many, and the area needed to be well lit to scare off any fiends.

But no one said the lights had to be one colour.

She often enjoyed watching the blues and greens and reds fly past as the colour twirled around her eyes.

Now though, the only colours were the red of blood, the orange of still burning flames, and the blue grey of freshly torn metal.

At least that's how she remembered it. Even after eighteen years, she still refused to lay eyes on the ruined edifice. The unsung grave of her father.

A year later, she had been so relieved when Bevelle's forces informed what was left of their Island community of the beasts defeat. Her father had been avenged.

Yet she still refused to return to the place where she had been so happy.

Many times over the years she found herself inside the cave where she cowered with the other children, a lucky few who had been playing in its depths the night it attacked. Never had she felt so comfortable, yet so scared. A feeling echoed every time she returned to the cave.

But now, she feels the need to return to a time of earlier happiness, and a time of later loss.

As she walked up the hill to the summit, she saw the sheer drops of the cliff that now bore an unsettling resemblance to the state of many of the machina buildings that were once whole.

Approaching the edge, she felt as though the beast had touched this patch of earth too. While she knew the drop had always been there, the same size, it now felt deeper, as though the beast had tore up the very soil and raised the edge to the sky.

Fighting the waves of fear as she approached the edge to look down on the beach, and the flanking ruins.

Strange, she thought, that such a peaceful sight can be bordered by such tragedy.

Looking at the water, it was once again clear. She could see dolphins happily splashing in the water, jumping through loops of wire and metal that had yet to be removed.

She tried to remember why her father had been here that night. Looking for her mother she recalled. But he did not need to go to search for her that night. Her mother was with her that night, watching the children, protecting them from dark shadows corner of the cave.

Looking out on the scene below, she was shocked to find she couldn't remember the last words she ever said to him, and she wept.

She had never cried like this before. Not when her father wouldn't come to her after the attack. Not when her mother died a few years later in an accident clearing the ruins around the new path to the centre of the old city, but was now no more than a village.

Everyone she had knew, or loved had died because of it. Even years after its defeat, death still struggled to reign itself in.

And now it was back.

The beast, Sin as it was now known as, had returned, and had already destroyed another of Spira's great machina cities. She felt as if it was tormenting her with her own loss. Baiting her, preying on her and her family.

Two down, she could hear it say, one more to go…

But there was hope. The clerics of Bevelle who had braved flying through Spira's skies told them of how Sin was defeated before, and the hope that if someone could do it again, that it may never return.

Many of the villagers volunteered for what they were asking of them, Aria included, but they only needed one.

They never said how they chose, but they did.

Aria, the soft spoken twenty year old was to become a fayth.

She had been told what it would mean. An eternity of dreaming, only to wake at the call of a summoner. Her body mere stone, but her soul tapped within. A soul that will only ever be realised when summoned.

Regaining her composure, she looked to the sky for the time. She had been told to go to the largest building left on the island at sunset, but there were still many hours to go.

She chose to remain there for now, allowing the wind to flow through her hair.

Wind, she mused, it was always there. It may not always be noticeable, but it was always there.

She wondered who would summon her first, what kind of aeon she would be like. She was told that here soul will represent itself in a form that is never predictable. Not even the statue she would soon become had a foreseeable form to it.

Slowly, the time drew on and it was growing dark.

Saying goodbye to her father, she carefully made her way down the slope, and entered the village.

News of her fate had quickly spread across the village, so she carefully made sure her hair was still wrapped in the bun on the back of her head and the simple dress she wore held no obvious signs of distress. As she approached the building that was to be her home, her temple, the villagers followed her. Only the quick actions of Bevelle's warriors held the crowds at bay.

Silently proceeding through the twists and turns, she noticed that spheres embedded in the walls, but was not interested in they're purpose.

Reaching her destination, she noticed a large hole in the floor. At its centre was a rock, and standing on the far side of the pit was the man she had come to know as the high priest assigned to her island by Bevelle's new government.

Smiling as she approached, he said, "You are on time. It is good to know that a fayth could come when summoned even when human."

"Please," she said, her voice soft as she climbed down into the pit, "I wish to begin."

"Of course," he said, bowing slightly as he said it. "Do you have a name for the aeon you will become?"

"I have not thought of one yet," she replied, looking the man in the eye, even though she was falling to the floor, about to lie prostrate over the crystal.

"There is little need to concern yourself with such matters." Crouching next to her, he whispered gently, "good luck, my Lady."

She knelt over the crystal, face down, and felt the rock take hold of her.

As her skin became stone, she felt her dress dissolve around her, and sensed a great weight erupt on her back.

As her mind grew cloudy, she it fell back to the cliff, where she thought about the wind.

Confident that the man was able to hear her, she chose a name with her last breath of this world.

"Valefor."


	3. Teneron

He had never run up these steps before. He only ever walked up these steps, even when those around him ran, panicked at the prospect of being stranded on this little island. His friends chased that airship with such fear that it became more than an emotion, it became a taste that soured the air, arriving at the plateau on top just in time to see his fellow foresters clawing at the airships metal hull, hoping that it would carry them off this island.

He did not run when he saw the beast on the horizon, easily tearing through the great machina highway that could be seen framing the sea as it spanned the gulf between Luca, Besaid and Baaj, but still felt relief as it followed the platform south and left their small community in peace.

He had only ever walked calmly when his wife arrived on the island five years later, looking forher lost husband, hoping that he was still alive after all this time, only to discover the great sprawl of huts that Teneron had helped build over the sea.

Yet, he was running now.

He was working in the town when he heard that his only child was beset by fiends.

Never had he run so fast, fire burning throughout his body, his mind.

Concern clouded his judgement, made his skin glisten with sweat inside his dull armour.

He could hear screaming, yet he was only halfway up the stairway.

He tried to increase his pace, and to withdraw his weapon so he was ready to fight whatever awaited him, only to stumble and send the armament falling down the steps he had just climbed, each impact with the stone a taunt at failure, until it eventually came to rest far below, irretrievable to someone in such a hurry.

Never before had he failed his family like this, he had promised his wife that the island was safe, a haven for raising children, and for years, he had never been proven wrong.

_Nor will I be wrong today_, he thought returning to his feet and resuming his frantic pace.

Defenceless and weaponless, he reached the top in time to see his seven year old boy, facing an angry ochu, its deadly tentacles herding the child into a corner, and its poison sacs preparing to unload they cargo.

Grabbing a nearby tree branch, one that had fallen to the ground during a recent storm, he approached the fiend.

In one swing, he tore through a tentacle. Poisonous green pus seeped from the wound on the creature.

Now with two foes, one of which had injured it, the ochu panicked. Swinging its tentacles wildly, it tried to seize the little human, and use it against the big one. But the boy was too fast.

As Teneron swung again and a again, ignoring the wounds that, despite his armour, were beginning to accumulate on his body, until he heard the death cry of the ochu.

Feeling its end was near, the fiend released the contents of its poison sacs, as it too dispersed to the surroundings as mere pyreflies. Fatigue and injury being overcome by concern for his child, he fought the desire to fall, unconscious to the ground as the gas took hold of his body. Losing hope as he saw his son lying on the ground, collapsed and twitching, he too succumbed to the green fog that tickled his nose and burned his lungs. The last thing he heard was a shrill mechanical noise, and he felt a breeze flow over him before he was enveloped in darkness.

* * *

"Teneron," he heard when he awoke.

"The boy," he murmured weakly, trying to look for the source of the voice, but finding no one within his field of vision, "how is he?"

"Try not to move," said the voice he began to recognise as his wife's.

Sitting up to face her, and immediately regretting it when his head began to spin. Regaining his balance, he turned to his wife, only to see her normally green eyes as sunken hollows lined by numerous salty streaks that ran down her cheek.

"No," he said, shaking his head, feeling the fire he had lived with inside his soul die.

His wife said nothing, preferring to fall to the floor as tears once again poured down her face. Moving to comfort her, Teneron noticed that her blouse was damp around her neck.

"You promised us it was safe here," she said as she wept. "I thought I'd lost you both."

"I know honey," was all he could say in reply as he held her in his arms.

They sat like that for hours, no one dared interrupt them. Many would never know the sorrow of losing a child, and for that Teneron was glad.

Through the single window, he could see that it was nearly nightfall, and many internal lights began to flicker on, bathing the grieving couple in their pure white luminescence. It was now that he realised that he was not in his home. There was no machina on the wooden decks of the town.

"Where are we?" he asked, breaking the silence that had engulfed the room.

"An airship from Bevelle," she said, looking out to the window. "They arrived just as you two collapsed, and they were able to save you, but…" her eyes began to swell with tears once more, "they said that if he was older, or bigger, he might have lived."

"Why are they here?"

"I don't know. Thy said that they'd come to make some sort of announcement in the town."

Standing up, Teneron helped his wife to her feet. "Are you ok to walk?"

"Yeah," she replied as they made their way out of the airship and started down the long road to the town.

* * *

When they arrived, night was firmly in control, the only light coming from the stars in the sky and the fires burning in the torches that lined the walkways. Despite this, a sizeable crowd had gathered at the towns centre.

Pushing through, they heard mumbling of the people around them.

"The Beast has returned…"

"It is called Sin…"

"What has Yevon got to do with this?"

"Why are they outlawing machina?"

"They want someone to become a fayth…"

As they reached the centre of the group, a large man dressed in quite elaborate robes looked like he was trying to explain the situation again, frustration clearly showing on his face.

"For the Summoning to be successful, a summoner needs to train. Please, won't one of you help us?"

"What's the summoning?" asked Teneron, pulling away from his beloved to square up to the man who was now asking for another person to die to become a fayth for an aeon.

"It was the means by which Sin was destroyed previously," said the man, approaching Teneron, "But it can only be used by experienced summoners. We cannot entrust our hope to those who have no inkling on what it means to be a summoner, thus anyone intending to defeat Sin must travel Spira, learning the intricacies of the art."

"If it was used before, and failed, why are you asking for it to happen again?" he said, feeling the fire within him relight.

"It gives the people hope, and it may prove successful the next time," was the succinct answer from the man.

Glancing at his wife, he saw that she needed hope. "Then allow me to become that hope." Seeing the horror on her face, and the joy on the strangers, he added, "on one condition. My wife is allowed to summon me, without needing to journey."

"Thank you sir," said the man as he performed an elaborate bow to Teneron.

"No, Teneron. I've lost my son, I don't want to lose you too," she cried, but her words failed to influence him.

"Do not fear sweet wife. You will be the first summoner for me. I will always watch over you this way. And I will never fail you like I failed our son."

Impatience showing on the stranger's bald visage, he began to urge Teneron to follow him. "Please come with me sir."

Leaving his wife where she stood, tearful and in shock, the fire within him burned strong. He knew this was the right thing to do, and she will too soon, he thought as he followed the man out into the forest.

"Tell me, where are we going?" he asked as they began the long climb up the steps once again.

"I trust you are familiar with the cabin next to the landing strip."

"Of course, we used to store wood in its underground rooms."

"That entire building is to become your temple. While we climb, you might want to consider a name for your aeon."

"No need, I wish my aeon to be named after my son, Ifrit."


	4. Senka

Swimming through the icy waters surrounding her home, Senka was careful not to attract the attention of any nearby fiends, hoping instead that a fish would soon swim by, and decide to make a meal out of her.

She did not have to wait long to draw something's attention. Within five minutes of entering the sea, she attracted the attention of a geosgaeno.

_Damn,_ she thought as the fiend pursued her through the cold depths. This was not what she was trying to bait. Fortunately, her blitzball training allowed her to swim as fast, if not faster than the fiend that followed her.

Seeing a small cave appear in the murk, she swam for it, just managing to get her small frame inside when a cacophonous aquatic scream could be heard as the fiend realised that its dinner had escaped.

Waiting to the very limit of her breath, she swam back out to the open water, heading for the sky that could be seen high above. Having been underwater for fifteen minutes now, her lungs were beginning to burn as stale air built up within them.

With only a single body length to go before she broke the surface, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. A series of blue scales slide past, large fins piercing the barrier between water and air.

This was her target, and she was its.

Without breaking the surface, she quickly turned in the water and powered back towards the depths, the aquatic beast behind her. Ignoring the searing pain in her lungs, she swam fast, following markers that had long been strewn along the seabed. Allowing herself a glance backwards, she saw the sharp teeth, and hungry glare of the fish, and increased her pace.

Seconds turned to minutes as the pain in lungs spread to her muscles. She would not be able to maintain this pace for long. Hope was in sight though as she saw the fake bedrock her people used to trap the fish that became their food.

Confident in her colleague's alertness, she powered through the large opening in the replica earth, the fish still in pursuit, and swam through the length of the cage, emerging on the other side. Mere moments later a metal plate fell into place behind her, followed immediately by a concussive sound that could only mean the creature had slammed into the plate.

Desperate for air, she clawed her way to the surface, and finally emerged into the air. Thankful for the adrenaline her body had provided her during the chase, she now cursed it for the cramp that was now setting in throughout that same body as fresh air filed her lungs.

"Senka," she heard her brother yell from the coast, "that's a damned big fish you caught today."

Ignoring her brother cries of joy, she floated in silence, letting the feeling return to her body's muscles. Eventually, she began to paddle back to the shoreline. Tonight, she would be the hero of the island.

As she climbed up out of the water, she let her long blue hair fail down to her waist instead of tying it back as she usually did. Smiling to one of the men gathered around tonight's meal as he offered her a towel, which she took as she began drying herself off. Despite the thick layer of waterproof clothes she wore when on a hunt, she still managed to become soaked through.

As she quickly left the scene to change into her normal clothes in a nearby hut, she heard murmurings from some of those gathered. Glancing in their direction, she saw they were pointing towards the main village quarter, which she soon discovered had an airship docked nearby.

Hurriedly changing her clothes, she returned outside, greeting her brother on the path that led to the village.

"Any idea who they are?" she asked him.

"Not a clue sis," he said, still obviously joyful at the catch his sister had just made. "They arrived about five minutes after you left. It looks like they've drawn quite a crowd though."

After the quick walk up the icy path to the village, they saw who was drawing the crowd. A short, bald man dressed in light grey robes upon which where stencilled many elaborate patterns, was addressing them.

Senka, using her newfound celebrity status politely moved through the crowd until she was facing the man.

"Why have you come here?" she asked the man.

"To inform you of Sins rebirth," he answered slowly.

"What is Sin?" she asked, confusion showing on her slight features.

"Sin is the beast that was born nineteen years ago, and the beast that was destroyed two years later," he said as he turned to face the sea, "over there if I recall correctly."

Looking over the ocean to the great grasslands that were barely visible on the horizon, she remembered tales spun by the old of a great battle being fought there nineteen years ago. The smoke and stench of the dead had drifted across to their island, followed days later by a giant beast that flew over their island. They also told of great energies battling for supremacy two years later, but no victor or participants were visible from their distance from the scene.

"We are here to spread hope, hope that Sin can one day be destroyed again," continued the man. "But to do that, we need assistance."

"Of course you do," scoffed Senka. Noticing the failing sun in the sky, she continued, "Come, let us eat tonight. We will see how we can assist you in the morning."

"Very well."

* * *

That night, the people of Sumena and their guests from Bevelle dined on Senka's catch. She was honoured in the way all successful hunters were, and as the night drew on, she was challenged to a game of blitzball by a teammate for their islands team. Even though they lacked the machina needed for a blitz sphere, they still had a large pool in which they trained. Dividing into two teams of three, they played. 

The people, and the guests, were very entertained by the night's actions. In the end, Senka's team won by three goals to two, and Senka herself was relieved to finally be in the water again, chasing friends, instead of being chased by foes.

The night drew on, and eventually gave way to day.

Senka, being one of the first to rise quickly grew disappointed at the heavy layer of snow that had fell in the short few hours she had been asleep. But she quickly overcame the emotion and chose to wear an additional jacket over her already thick layer of clothing.

Curious to see how her people could help Bevelle, she went out in search of the man, who had come beseeching their aid. Approaching the airship, she pressed what she knew to be a communication panel and asked to be let in to see him.

As she walked through the open doorway, he stood waiting for her. After taking her to a quiet part of the vessel, he spoke.

"The people need hope Senka. We thought that Sin had been destroyed seventeen years ago, but now its back. Armenal has fallen to its power, and now we are unsure of how to proceed."

Taken aback by his honesty, she fumbled for her next question, before finally settling on this, "Then why are you here?"

"We believe that, if we can atone for past mistakes, whatever they may be, the next time Sin is destroyed, it may be more everlasting. Do you know how it was destroyed previously?"

"No."

"It was killed by an aeon. But an aeon that can only be wielded by experienced summoners. None exist anymore. Zanarkand was destroyed, and nowhere else had much desire to develop the summoning arts, even with instruction by Zanarkand's summoners.

"We need to create a new caste of society, one that allows summoners to gain experience, so that they too may one day defeat Sin. And this is why we need someone. For an aeon to exist, it needs a fayth."

"I know of the fayth," whispered Senka as she realised where this was heading, as she realised why someone was needed. Knowing that while Sin existed,it was unlikely that she would often be able to travel to Luca to compete, if Luca survived for long, and her fishing trips would become more dangerous. If she could help bring hope to the people, then she should, just as she had brought food yesterday.

"Just call me Leviathan."

* * *

**A/N**: As mentioned in the introduction, this place, and aeon, are never mentioned in the game, but I felt that it was appropriate to allow an aeon to exist for each element, addressing the imbalance that I feel is present in the game. To acount for the absence of both place and aeon, it can be said that Sin destroyed both a long time before the games era, either out of its general destructiveness, or accidentally due to Sumena's closeness to the Calm Lands, the place where battles with Sin occur, hopefully bringing the Calm. 


	5. Dentane

Dentane sat across the table from the man, his foe. This was the man who had threatened to destroy his business, his life, when the monster destroyed the Luca-Besaid Highway.

But now, nearly two decades later, it was Dentane who was the success, and the man the pitiful failure.

"It was a mistake," he said, allowing a hint of smugness to escape through his voice. "The moment you tried to destroy me, you had signed your own bankruptcy notice."

"Please Dentane, don't," begged the man from the other side of the table.

Withdrawing his sword from its sheath, Dentane held it vertical above the ground, letting the man sweat. It was a pleasant day outside; gulls were happily flocking about the skyline, and the people below in the street happily sang their favourite songs.

A stark contrast to the scene inside he mused, letting the blade drop to the floor, enjoying the whimpering of the man when he saw the sudden movement, but had not yet discovered its outcome.

Upon seeing he blade impact the ground at their feet, and standing tall, the man let out a heavy sigh of relief, causing Dentane to laugh.

"Don't do what, I wonder?" he asked mockingly, watching the man shift uncomfortably in his seat. "Run you through as if you were no more than a fiend? Throw you out of that window to see if you could fly? Set Daigoro on you? I'm not a murderer you idiot." Noticing that the man had signed all the relevant documents that transferred all of his assets to Dentane, he added, "You may go."

As the man stood, Dentane offered him a hand as he passed, but the new destitute did not accept it, cautiously eyeing the blade that still stood in the floor and on the brink of running as he left Dentane's office.

Chuckling slightly, he returned the sword to his waist, and called his dog, Daigoro, from the room in the back of his office, and decided to go and inspect his new property.

Leaving his office, and his home, he began walking up the path to the city centre. Upon reaching the area, he asked one of the teleport operators how much would cost to teleport to the northern districts of Luca, near the valleys that eventually led to Armenal.

"Two hundred gil," he scoffed. "I think I'll walk," he added as he led his dog toward the many steps that led to the plateau above. A general feeling of joy washed over him when he saw the man he had just ruined looking for a job at one of the waste extractors that lined a small section of the path.

Upon reaching the top, he began the long walk to his destination, ignoring the various signs that denoted the regions hazards. This was a highly industrial area of Luca, a place where few people walked, and only the poor inhabited. Despite the fact that this very road was very important to Luca, they had invested little in its security, relying instead on the relatively safe teleport booths at either end of the road to move tourists and locals alike, resulting in little need to remove fiends, as many of the factories could easily defend themselves.

Dentane however saw little need to be scared of fiends. He had never yet come across a beast he could not kill with his blade, or with his dog, and when he smelt a foul stench and a breeze on the back of his neck, he knew today would be no different.

Still with his back turned to the ruminant, he heard Daigoro begin to bark at the two horned fiend, and once again drew his blade from his waist, and in an inhuman fast swing, the fiend was no more.

"Hmph," he said as he continued his journey to his new property.

Minutes later, he was approached by another man, wearing clothes much unlike his own blue top and white trousers.

"Very impressive," the man commented.

"I have no interest in spreading your new teachings monk," replied Dentane.

"How can you know what I want, or what I am? I have only just arrived in Luca today," as the monk, confusion plain on his face.

Not meeting eyes with the man, Dentane nonetheless slowed his pace when he realised the monk was almost jogging to keep up with him. "I have many business associates in Bevelle. They say the beast that nearly ruined me nineteen years ago is back, and that you still believe Yevon is responsible, thus you are spreading teachings in his name that you hope will negate his wrath, while simultaneously trying to convince another to die in the hope that the beast, that you so amusingly name Sin, will also die, permanently. Is that an appropriate summary of the situation?"

"You do you're homework don't you?"

"No, I listen to those I pay, and expect them to listen to the one who pays them."

As they reached the end of the industrial road, they continued on into the limited residential area, part of which extended many tens of metres into the sea. Finding their path blocked by the ever present rocky outcropping, they turned to their right and walked down into the valley below.

"I have a proposition for you," continued the monk as they reached the bottom of the crevasse.

"No, I will not become one of you're precious fayths."

"But you haven't heard my offer yet," said the monk as they approached the clearing in which Dentane's prize awaited.

"Nor am I interested," he replied as he neared the doorway. The man was still following him, but thought nothing of it as watched Daigoro sniff around. "This place was once mine. Almost twenty years ago, when the triangle was destroyed, I was in ruins, and on the verge of bankruptcy. Then my, rival appeared," he said, turning to look into the monk's eyes, "followed by bailiff's. I owed him a lot of money, and he was more than willing to use the disaster to remove me as competition. He seized this place, my home, and many other properties. Warehouses, factories, that sort of thing, until he had retribution. I was left with nothing but my clothes, blade and a small hovel left to me by my parents.

"He thought he had broken me. He never knew it then, but he had done me a massive favour. He was the only creditor to whom I owed gil, and this left me free to start again, as fresh as the day is long you might say…"

He hesitated before walking inside; savouring a view he had missed for so long. This place was almost as new to him as it was to Daigoro, who was now eagerly scratching at the door.

"Easy boy," he whispered as he finally pushed the door open, its hinges groaning through years of neglect. The air inside was stale and pungent. Dentane was slightly dismayed that this place had been allowed to rot all these years. Beneath the layers of dust, everything was as he left it. Behind him, he heard the monk enter, and Daigoro sneeze as he sniffed at a long dead houseplant.

"It's good to be home," he said as he walked inside the large hallway, marvelling at the architecture that he had long since forgotten.

"I'm glad you like it," said the monk, but with no mirth that Dentane could see.

"Tell me monk, why are you still following me? I have already refused to help you," he said, turning to face the man, while the dog began barking at silhouettes appearing in the doorway through which they had just entered.

"The Yevon church would find it much easier to assimilate Luca if its most prominent businessman openly expressed his support for our cause. After all, you are somewhat of a celebrity around these parts, are you not?" admitted the monk as the entire room was flooded with light. Dentane realised that the shapes in the doorway were more monks, and noticed movement behind him.

Drawing his blade, he turned to face the man who had accompanied him so far, who had by now, like his kin, armed himself with a machina weapon. "Barely a month old and rife with corruption?" he spat.

"We do what we can to preserve hope. We are sorry that you do not yet understand," said the monk. "Now please, I believe you know the way," indicating the room at the far end of the hallway, Dentane's only path if he did not want to cut through the men surrounding him.

Returning his blade to its sheath, he commanded Daigoro to be silent, and walked the path requested. Moments ago, he had returned home, now he realised he had arrived to his prison.

"If I refuse?" said Dentane as he halted at the threshold.

"We will have no choice but to kill you," answered the monk, his voice thick with insincere sombreness. "You may have noticed that there are more of us than you, now please, enter. The crystal awaits."

Still hesitating, he turned again to the monk, "I feel that it is only fair to warn you, I will not be summoned by unworthy summoners."

"And just how will you deem a summoner worthy?" he scorned.

"Should a summoner wish to use me and my dog, they must pay. I will only work for those who can afford to pay me, and only those who can afford to pay me are worthy. It is for them that I will become their bodyguard, for them I will become Yojimbo."


	6. Janeron

He could see the sky darken above him. Yet looking at nearby a timepiece, Janeron saw it was only midday. There was a storm coming he realised, and almost as if the city could hear his thoughts, he felt the great gears and cogs began to pull the city below the water towards the riverbed, where it would be safe from the massive storm surges and torrential gales that would soon tear across the rivers surface.

He watched in admiration as the water that was lapping at the cities edge encroached on the invisible boundary, threatening to flood into the city, but never quite making it inside. Janeron had only been living here a few weeks and this was the first time he had seen the city dive. He felt moving here from the Djose mining village would help him overcome his fear of water, and now was the moment of truth.

With the water only a quarter of the way up the barrier, a gift from Zanarkand over a century ago, he could already make out the difference between the old and new districts of the city. The old had long been abandoned because it was fixed at the surface by massive bridges that spanned from one riverbank to the other, and thus he watched as Armenal sank beneath its lifeless brother. He had heard rumours since he moved here that when a storm rages above, you should always keep one eye on the sky for part of the old city often find themselves torn free, before succumbing to gravity and falling towards them. This was just another thing that Janeron had to see for himself.

Crouching on his balcony, he looked up as the water finally met at the barriers precipice, and was shocked to see he could easily make out the faint speckles of raindrops hitting the surface. The lightning that had begun interacting with the old quarters great spires merely fifteen minutes ago had now travelled downstream towards Armenal, and he could see the bolts striking the rivers surface as their brilliant white faded quickly to a pale blue, then dissipated altogether in less than a second.

He felt a slight shudder as the city came to a halt on the bedrock that lined the river, and looking to the cities edge, he was surprised to see dozens of Hypello swimming outside, some young chasing shoals of fish, others old just gently gliding through the water.

A bright yellow flash drew his attention to the ceiling of water above him. Another quickly followed, and soon yellow discharges were as commonplace as the rain that fell above. He had never seen a thunderstorm from underwater before, but he was sure that this was not normal. His fear quickly came to fruition as part of the old city came tumbling down through the water, breaking through the barrier that held the water at bay, and fell directly on one of the cities major generators.

The lights in his home began to fail as the remaining dynamos struggled to power the city, in preference to keeping the barrier up. Soon, Armenal was plunged into darkness as they gave up supplying domestically, sending their entire output to the shield. The only light source was the lightning and yellow bolts coming from above.

A great tremor rocked through the city, and in another blue lightning flash, Janeron could see that the remnants of the old city had joined their kin, pinning the city to the ground with their weight.

Now somewhat scared, Janeron fled from his home. When he moved here, he was often told of old sectors of the city that held watertight spaces, large enough for many hundred people to survive in if a disaster ever hit. He was now running towards the nearest of them, as the city was suddenly bathed in a blood red glow, a glow only created when the barrier was dying he realised since this barrier is the same used for blitzball, one he had seen fail many times in the new stadium at Luca.

He continued to run, leaping over the fallen, carefully avoiding what little debris he could see in the red light, only stopping to retrieve his hat if it fell off his head. Eventually he found the emergency shelter, as dark as any other part of the city, and ran towards it.

A sudden roar erupted through the city streets, followed by a tremendous crash form the cities edge as the red luminescence faded. He had only thirty seconds he guessed before he would be drowned, and the darkness did not help matters.

Pushing his way though the crowd, he kept his course true with the help of the lightning that still danced across the surface, and eventually made his way inside. Now completely in the dark, he stood by the doorway, helping people inside. The deafening thunder of the water rushing onto the city getting louder, he prepared to close the door, hoping that this was one of the watertight doors.

Feeling spray find his cheek, he decided that time was up. As he closed the door, he could see through the lightning illumination that a great wall of water was approaching, as were three children.

Feeling water lapping at his ankles, he waited. People behind him, unaware of the children, begged him to close the door as a new volley of yellow bolts appeared in the watery sky, illuminating the approaching water.

The children were desperately running to the door, Janeron waited, his heart torn. If he waited any longer, they all die, if he closed the door now, the children die.

He closed the door, moments later, a banging could be heard from the other side. He had closed it too early, he realised, there would have been time to let them in. His had just killed three innocent children.

Twenty seconds later, a tremendous crash could be heard against the door, and then nothing. Relief and sorrow flooded his mind, as light flooded the passageway, powered emergency reserves locked deep within these shelters.

Finding a thickset glass panel in the door, he saw the children floating in the murk outside, their broken and twisted bodies merely a terrible foreground to the carnage being brought to the city behind as a giant beast laid waste to their home.

After helping a nearby Hypello to his feet, he began walking through the shocked crowd that lined the hallway, eventually finding the large room that served as a control room. The screens surrounding him showed the beast tearing into the city, watching bubbles of air flow to the surface as they emerged from within the cities walls.

Among the technicians that manned the consoles, Janeron heard reports that their pod was the only one left, the beast had tracked down the others shortly after they too had powered up, and whose air had entertained it so when it freed it from its metal case.

"Shut down the power," he found himself saying despite feeling that he should not be here.

"Excuse me?" asked a nearby technician.

Feeling cornered, Janeron quickly relayed his reasoning to the tech. "It's gone after the others after they powered up. If we power down now, we might not draw its attention."

"Hmm," thought the tech, and after consulting with his neighbour, he said, "It's worth a try."

Within moments, they were once again plunged into darkness.

* * *

Many hours later, the tremors that people guessed were the beasts movements had ceased, and they powered up the visual systems only. It was clearly night above, and the storm had stopped on the surface, resulting in nothing but blackness to appear on the screens inside. Deciding to risk the lights as well, they saw what was left of their city. Buildings piled on top of each other, bodies floating in the depths. There were even fires still burning inside what few building retained their air pockets. 

A quick scan of the surrounding showed the beast had gone. Relief flooded the room, tainted though it was with the loss of their city, and in Janeron's case, guilt at the loss of those children.

"How much longer can we stay here," he asked a technician who was walking by.

"We're leaving now," he replied, "this place was only built for one hundred people, not the two hundred plus we've crammed inside."

"Is that it?" asked Janeron, "out of thousands, only two hundred people live?"

"I'm afraid so." Eying Janeron, the tech looked as if he recognised the tall man, "I hear that you're the one responsible for saving the rest of us also."

Cautious about the sudden praise, Janeron thanked the man and stalked off down to the back of the room. A sudden movement caught him unaware and he went sprawling into unattended desk as the people in the halls outside cried in fear, believing that their attacker had returned.

* * *

The next few hours passed by in relative quiet. People occasionally came to thank him, either for helping them inside, or for realising that powering up could be fatal. Eventually though they reached the surface. Looking through one of the cameras, the forest surrounding the Moonflow had been torched, shoopuf and Hypello were strewn around the debris. They had been unfortunate enough to be crossing when the beast attacked. 

Finding a place for their vehicle to come to rest, the survivors began to pile out through the only exit.

Janeron was one of the last to leave, and despite the tremendous damage to the forest, he recognised it as the path to Djose, his old home.

After spending many minutes trying to find the person in charge, it turned out that she had been looking for him.

"You," she said as she approached before he could get a chance to say anything. "You're from Djose, are you not?"

"Yes I am," he replied to he short woman, removing his extravagant green hat out of politeness.

"We have no where else to go, would they be willing to accept us?"

"It has been many months since I last visited," he replied, his rasping voice laced with sorrow, "and they are only a small mining village. It might be possible for everyone to find a home there, but it would be very cramped."

"I understand," was the woman's reply, "but we will make do somehow, and thank you."

* * *

Months later, the survivors of Armenal had either made a home in Djose, or had moved elsewhere, still the ghosts of their city lived with them like the unsent that plagued Bevelle's morgues. Even more so for Janeron who could not forget the three children that he had locked out, or their desperate cries for entry. He still had nightmares of seeing their bodies floating in the window. 

As for the water, he no longer feared it, he despised it, and the beast that had brought death on them all.

When the monks from Bevelle arrived one day to ask for their help in defeating Sin, no one refused. Even the Djose miners volunteered their services after accepting the plight of the people and Hypello from Armenal.

In the end, Janeron was chosen. They claimed his ability to bring hope to the survivors, offering them refuge and reassurance once they arrived made him stand out. Personally, Janeron hoped that the storm within him surrounding the children would subside, and that he would be able to sleep in the stone peacefully.

As he approached the temple that would house him for the coming eternity, he asked one thing, that the aeon, his aeon, would be called Ixion.


	7. Letana

"Sister Letana," she heard as she awoke. "Sister Letana," repeated the harsh voce of the matron of their order.

Opening her eyes, she saw the dull blue hues of their group's garb, and the imposing form to the woman leaning over her.

"Yes ma'am," she said as she clawed her way out of her bed.

"You are the searcher for today?" she asked, eying Letana's crumpled habit lying at the foot of the bed.

"Yes ma'am," she quickly replied.

"You have ten minutes to begin morning prayers before you leave for this mornings tasks," replied the matron as she left the nun's dormitory.

After quickly changing into her robes, she hurriedly made her way outside to the courtyard. Already, many had gathered, and more were approaching from the other three dormitories that circled the yard.

Approaching the central altar, she tried to smooth out the creases that lined her clothes, and earned a reproving glare from the matron.

Noting that everyone had arrived, she began.

Bowing down to the altar, arms folded across her chest as her knees touched the ground, and lead the chanting.

"Arigot. Katajiken. Ata chin na dzuk neta." Straightening to open her arms to the temple suspended high above her, she repeated, "Arigot. Katajiken. Ata chin na dzuk neta."

Turning to face the congregation who were mimicking her movements, she once again brought her knees to the ground, and allowed her hands to unite in front of her, before completing the prayer, "Shinji, hata tem neta ata."

Stepping down from the stone platform, she noticed many still had their heads down in prayer.

_Praying for a successful journey I suppose,_ she thought, after the mess she made of the last one, she would need all the help she could get.

Finding the matron standing next to the entrance to their enclave, her heart sunk. Letana had hoped to be rid of this woman by now, thinking she was still praying with the others.

"Sister Letana," she began as Letana approached her. "I come to bid you good luck on your search. I hope for all our sakes that it is successful this time."

Without turning to look at the older woman, Letana thanked her before climbing the steep wall that lead out of the dry lake in which they lived.

* * *

Three hours had passed now, time was running out. Letana had begun to get desperate, and had lost her way, she was however determined to complete her task, and wanted to hold back the flare gem until she knew her time had expired. The valley walls sometimes shimmered, leading to a rise in false hope within her, before realising that it's nothing more than a stray discharge from the nearby plains.

She cursed herself for getting lost so easily in this place. She had grown up here. And many friends had passed this trial mere minutes after leaving. She was missing something.

She strolled through the valleys, passing the wide entrance to Bevelle, and eventually finding herself at the foot of the Northern Grasslands. She knew that nearby there was a shortcut back to the village, and after a while, she came upon a large pool of water. On the other side, she could see the grass that led to the lake basin.

She felt like she had scoured the valleys, left no rock unturned, but she still could not find what she was looking for. She had been told to search for a preserver of memories, but she was never told what one looks like. She had always had faith that the divine being would make it obvious. But, would she?

The divine had never made her actions known had she?

She sat in silence on the edge of the pool, on the point of questioning her faith. She was so deep in thought that she failed to notice the fiend that was forming out of the water. Not that she had any fighting skills to deal with it. She was just growing colder and colder inside, despite the usual warmth of these valleys, as tenets she had believed in since a child fell from her heart. Only once the giant spherical mass began to circle her did she become aware of it.

Screaming, she jumped up, and fell into the water. Clawing back to the surface, she watched in time to see the fiend dissipate into pyreflies, eventually fading enough allow her a view of the man who saved her.

"Here," he said as he offered Letana a hand, helping to pull her out of the water. "You're of the Faron convent, are you not?" he asked before performing an unusual bow to the girl.

"Yes I am," she replied, "may I ask, where are you from?"

"I come from Bevelle, and I am heading to meet with you're people now. I would appreciate it if you would accompany me. What I must ask of your people involves all of your people."

Turning from the man, Letana said, "I'm afraid I cannot. I am currently undergoing the Search Trial."

Chuckling slightly, the man said, "You have completed the trial my dear." Spreading his arms to view the pool among the rocks and grass of the valley, he added, "It is the water within this lake that preserves memories." Stepping gingerly into the water he beckoned her to follow. "Come, I will show you."

Together, they moved to the middle of the lake, and the man removed a small container from his waist.

"Watch," he said as he filled it with water. Once full, he closed his eyes, and on the sides of the container, appeared the man, and a woman dressed in white.

"My wedding day I believe that is," he commented as he returned the fluid to the water, watching as his memory dispersed and became diluted within the mass. "I believe you are to collect a sample of it, and take it to the Zench Temple. Correct?"

"Yes," she said, removing a small box from a pocket. "You wish to go to the village, you must first pray to the divine. You can only do that at the temple," said Letana as she began to paddle to the far side, the man following shortly behind.

Reaching the far side of the pool, she offered the man a hand out of the water.

"Thank you," he said as he dried himself off as best as he could.

"This way to the temple," she said as she walked down the path. Glancing back at the man, she was amused at the look of amazement on his face when he saw the temple. From six points on the edge of the dry lake stood massive metal braces. Where they met at the centre, hung the temple.

Walking along the road that stood beneath one such support, they could see the grass below, and the four residences for the Faron followers.

As they reached the temple gates, the matron stood waiting for her. Looking distressed at the presence of a foreigner, she nonetheless behaved as expected.

"Have you completed your task Sister Letana?" she asked, her steely grey eyes only briefly glancing at the nun.

"Yes ma'am," she replied as she fell to her knees, presenting the box, and within it the fluid from the pool.

"Excellent," answered the matron, showing a rare smile. The rite now complete, the older woman addressed the man from Bevelle. "Why are you here, sir?"

"To request the help of your people," he began.

* * *

Though she had completed the trial, Letana still questioned her faith. A fact made worse by what the man had to say.

"The power of the divine will protect us," she found many muttering after the he made the address to the people. "We have no need to join with Yevon. Sin is merely their punishment."

Late the next night, while praying at the temple, the man approached her.

"Why do your people cling to these beliefs?" he asked, his face sullen at the prospect of failing in his duty.

"What you are saying," she said, ensuring that no one was within earshot, "What you are asking, is for them to give up their entire belief system. Many have blind faith for they have been fortunate, and interpret that as a sign that the divine being is looking out for them. Such experience will not easily be shaken."

"I see," he replied, sitting next to her. "And what of you?"

"When you found me yesterday, I was in turmoil. That was my second attempt at the Search. If I failed then, I would never progress further in my studies. I would never be truly accepted in the order anymore. If it was the will of the divine being to hide the answer from me, so be it, but I have always been faithful to her. I have followed the teachings all my life, yet he chose to forsake me. As I was sitting there, I think I concluded that the Faron way is a farce, but I have no other way. What you are saying is blasphemous, and I can never truly accept what you say. But eventually, Sin may come for us, won't it?"

"It may come for us all in the end…"

"You are also asking for one of us to die to help you. Such acts are highly wrong in our beliefs, and I fear that no one will help you. Unless I do."

"You know what you are saying sister?" came the voice of the old matron from behind a nearby doorway.

"I do Matron," she replied as she stood to face the woman, flanked by the two other elders.

"We agree," sighed the woman. "While it is blasphemous to say it, but Sin would affect all of Spira, not just the heathen Yevonites." Facing the Bevelle man, she asked, "What freedoms are we to expect once we have ceded to you're rule?"

"We merely manage the temples, all other matters are left to your discretion."

"Hmm, we shall see. Letana, you are young, yet you have lost hope, lost faith. I hope that this is what you want."

"I believe so."

"Very well," said the old matron. "We have agreed that you may use the lowest chamber of the temple for the ritual."

"Thank you ma'am," said the Bevelle man before turning to Letana. "What would you wish your aeon to be called?"

"After the divine, name her Shiva."


	8. The Sisters Three

Even after nineteen years, this place had not yet recovered from the destruction that was wrought upon it. The earth was still scorched; boulders and grass were still coated in oil and blood. The bodies had been removed long ago, as had the machina remnants, yet walking through the old battlefield, the three sisters found it hard to ignore the ghosts of the past.

Walking along the rocky wall that lined the eastern edge of the land, they could even make out the deep crater on the other side. The crater that brought the beasts demise, and Yunalesca's.

"Fools," said the youngest of the three. Though she had only been a toddler when the others challenged Bevelle's leadership, she had nonetheless been cast out with her sisters, and as she grew up, she came to understand their life. Betrayed by a government who had themselves betrayed a promise to a now dead saviour.

The eldest sister stopped, her tall figure looking towards a break in the rock wall in the far corner of the plains. "Come, perhaps we may yet find shelter for tonight." She said as she walked up the shallow gradient that led to the awaiting valley, the others following shortly behind.

An impressive sight awaited them at the end of the slope. Within lay a colossal crater, and suspended above was long abandoned palace. None of the sisters knew of this place.

In silence, they carefully walked the narrow rope bridge that connected the palace to the plains beyond. Looking down, they saw nothing except fog, out of which towered a grand spiral circuit.

"What is this place?" asked the youngest, but no one answered, each preferring instead to watch their footing. Ending years in exile by falling off a bridge would not be particularly wise.

Reaching the far end of the bridge, they walked up to the large doors, and managed to push them open. Within was a bright, circular chamber. Walking to the doorway at the far end, the middle sister finally spoke, "Is this it? Two rooms?"

Facing her sibling the elder answered, "I doubt it. Perhaps there is another doorway else where on the structure."

Joining them, the youngest added, "Yeah, no one would build a place this big for two rooms, would they?"

"No they would not," replied the oldest again, smiling, but noticing the darkening sky outside. "It is nearly nightfall, we can search in the morning."

"Do you think anyone still lives here?"

"We can find out tomorrow," said the middle sister.

* * *

Tomorrow arrived, and they began their quest. They spent the entire day searching the place, but found no more doors, or windows. They had the youngest climb to the top of the towers, and run over the rooftops, hoping that her small tanned body could keep up with the twisting turrets, and that somewhere another entrance could be found. Dismayed and confused they returned to the centre chamber, and found that they were not alone.

The man who stood before them was the man who had banished them from Bevelle. He looked older now than he did then. Scared perhaps, but the sisters knew it was not them he was scared of.

Stepping forward, the eldest addressed him. "Why are you here?" letting the anger she felt towards him show.

"I have come to offer forgiveness," he replied, his voice weak, and shaking.

"We have no need of your forgiveness, for your word mean nothing," retorted the middle sister.

"Pardon me," he mumbled, "I meant, I have come requesting forgiveness?"

"Why should we?" barked the eldest, walking up to the man, looking him in the eye. "You exile me and my sister for challenging your decision to betray Yunalesca, and force the a child, no more than four to share our fate merely because she is our sister."

Backing away from the angry sisters, the man simply said, "I'm sorry," before collapsing to the ground, sobbing, feeling years of regret wash over him.

Turning away from the man, the eldest walked through towards the exit. "We leave."

"Wait," said the man, his arm outstretched as if he was trying to hold her back.

"Fine. Speak," she said as she hesitated at the open doorway, but keeping her back to him.

"We need your help," he said as he stood. "The beast, it has returned, and it has destroyed Armenal."

"And why do our need our help? This looks like your mess, not ours."

"We plan to honour our word to Yunalesca, and we will hopefully find someone who can defeat Sin as she did."

"Sin, how appropriate," scoffed the middle sister.

"To defeat it, we need summoners, but the last of the summoner died in the plains out there many years ago. Zanarkand shared its knowledge with us, and we ignored it. Now we must recapture it to help train summoners anew. But before that, we need Fayth for the aeons they will summon."

All three sisters approached the man, "And you want us, no?" asked the eldest.

"Yes, we do," begged the man.

"You exile us from our home, now come seeking forgiveness, while offering eternal imprisonment. What right do you have to do that?"

"None," he replied. "But summoners are Spira's last hope."

"What of the machina buried deep within Bevelle, are they of no use to you?"

Looking uncomfortable at the concept, he merely stated, "The machina is… too unpredictable to be of much use."

Looking to her older sisters the youngest spoke up, "We should help them. If not for them, then for Spira."

"It is… the right thing to do," commented the middle sister.

"How will you determine if a summoner is ready to possess the aeon?" asked the eldest, stalling while she thought about this.

"In the other temples, we have placed a trial before the chamber of the fayth. Only worthy summoners can solve the trial, and pass through. You would be no different."

Reaching her decision, she said merely, "Yes we will. We will not be treated like a reward for solving some puzzle. Summoners must prove their worth before they can call us. You must obtain all other aeons, and be our guardian. Only summoners whose aeons can beat yours may summon us. Do you understand?"

"And what happens when I die?"

"You must choose a successor, or remain on Spira. The choice is yours. Either way, it will be penance for your acts."

"Very well," he finally ceded. A fair price he thought, he must pay for his sins, as must Spira for theirs. "What should we call you?"

In unison, the three said, "The Magus Sisters."


	9. Yumeko

A dozen senders were gathered at the western gate. They slowly moved out onto the water, accompanied by a flotilla to caskets. Once clear of the cities great walls, they spread out and the fleet split up, dividing themselves among the senders. In the gallery set high above the scene on the wall, families wept as the senders danced. The water frothed and the caskets sank. As the staff's each sender carried moved, pyreflies could be seen emerging from the water, from the sunken sarcophagi, and began tracing the movements. Water began to form columns around each sender, lifting them up, high above the natural level of the sea in which they danced.

Eventually, each brought their staff to rest as the morning sun turned from pink to orange. The water subsided, gently lowering them back to the plane in which they started.

Satisfied that their loved ones had moved on, the gallery emptied save for a lone child.

Yumeko stood alone, watching the last of the pyreflies fall into the distant horizon, its destination unknown, but safe in the knowledge that it would never harm the living, He was told that he was here the morning his parents were sent, but he could not remember them. He hoped that being here, watching the sending would help him remember, but today had failed, just like every other sending he witnessed every day for the last year had failed to recapture the eight year old memory.

He had hoped that he would remember it today, for he would not witness any other sending again. As he left the gallery, tears threatened to burst forth from his eyes. He promptly raised his hood to shield them from passers by. He had no intention of telling his tale to any stranger eager to console a lone child leaving the balcony.

He was fortunate though. Many children died with their parents that day. It was no attack by Sin, as the beast was now known. Sin had not yet reappeared by then. Instead, it was merely the action of a negligent fool.

He often asked himself why he survived, and why they had to die in such a pitiful manner, but like his memory, no answer revealed itself.

Walking through the streets of Bevelle, machina was everywhere, but little had power running through it anymore. Not since the new teachings came in. All machina, with few exceptions, was to be abandoned. What was not crucial to a buildings strength was to be removed and destroyed, everything else, hidden, so that no one could ever use it ever again.

It was therefore the highest irony that these teachings were being spread to the remote regions of Spira by airship, he mused passing by an elderly woman who was struggling to remove a light fitting from the outside of her home.

_We all have our trials_, he thought as she finally ripped it loose. She did not appear happy at the prospect of walking down these streets at night without the machina lights, but she soon beamed with relief when she spotted a Bevelle official walking down her street handing out fuel and torches to the denizens.

As the hours passed, he found himself walking towards the scene of his own trial. He had also been here many times over the last year, but not to affect a remembrance, but to say goodbye, though he never knew why. Now he knew, or at least he knew why he was walking down these rebuilt streets today.

The people who had moved here after the homes were built anew had no idea who he was, yet they treated him kindly, and often like one of their own. One old couple often gave him any extra treats that their grand children did not want. He never refused their gifts, for in their attempts to make him happy, they made themselves happy. Today though, their home was boarded up.

Seeing him approach, a neighbour beckoned him.

"They passed away last night," he said simply when Yumeko had reached his doorway. "They are to be sent tomorrow. I'm sure they would appreciate it if you was there to witness it."

"No," was all Yumeko said, leaving the man, and the site of now two trials behind.

It was time he returned to the palace. Being among the people, seeing joy and sorrow mixed on their faces was hurting him too much.

By the time he had returned to his quarters in the grand structure in Bevelle's heart, word had already spread of his arrival, and his adoptive father was waiting for him.

"How goes the conversion father," he asked the man who was recently assigned rule over temple affairs in the new government.

"On the whole, as planned," he stated.

"On the whole?" questioned Yumeko.

"The Al Bhed have been giving us some trouble recently," he sighed as he allowed the boy pass him into the main living room that afforded a view of the city. "They're not happy with the machina ban."

"I think perhaps that had you not travelled to their island by airship you might have had better luck," he commented as he peered out at the man from behind his purple attire.

"Perhaps," chuckled the man. "Funny how you can always see the path even though those who walk it cannot. Tell me son, are you ready for this evening?"

"In truth, I do not know," answered the boy. As the son, even adoptive son, of one of the maesters he had a promising life in front of him. With the new teachings coming, he knew more about them than any his age and he too was likely to become a maester should an opening appear during his adult life. "Do you really think that this is the right thing to do?"

"Give the people hope, bring order to chaos? My answer is yes. We know that Yu Yevon is responsible for Sin. Yunalesca told as much shortly before she departed to battle it. If we glorify Yevon, it may reduce the wrath he brings down on us. If we spread the pilgrimage, someday another may defeat Sin, and hopefully kill Yevon."

"How can you be so sure though? You are asking people to give their lives for you, for what. A _small chance_ of success? "

"Would you rather people dying pointlessly, like your parents?" The moment he said it, he immediately was to pull the words back.

"Yes, my parents died for no reason. Many did that day. There is not a day go by when I am forced to remember that. People in the street asking me if I'm lost, people asking me where my parents are, if I need help getting home." Anger had begun to burn inside Yumeko, but it was quickly doused by sorrow. "They all treat me like a child. They have no right… They don't know me…"

"Maybe because you are a child. You always hide behind that cloak. It is as if you are afraid of the eyes of others falling upon you. You shy away from life. You only ever go out to the sending, and your old home. Other children in your position would give their lives to be where you are: son of a maester. They would walk in the street and people would gather around them in moments as if he were the maester himself."

"But I toowill soon give my life, won't I? Soon, people will come to Bevelle just for me. For eternity they will come, and I will serve."

"Yet you will still hide behind your cloak."

"Hmm, perhaps." The minutes past in silence as the boy struggled with himself to find a calm equal to that that had lasted so many years. "Why am I the son of a Maester?"

"Excuse me?" said the man, looking shocked at the sudden question.

"Surely it was not just a publicity stunt to further your career? You adopt an orphan boy and the people love you for it?"

"Truthfully, that was part of the reason," he answered, shifting uncomfortably where he stood. "But I also felt… guilty… for what had happened to you. The man who… He was my brother… He was acting on my orders, but he… he was arrogant, and incompetent."

"So you took me in to console a wounded conscience?"

"Yes, but I never regretted it."

"That's besides the point! When you revealed it to the public, how did you represent it? Like that, or as a massive act of kindness to a child that would otherwise be left homeless?"

"I portrayed it as best I could for my career! You happy now boy?" he yelled as he left Yumeko alone in the room.

"Thank you," he replied, even though the man could no longer hear him. Looking out over the city, the sun was beginning to set, and fireworks for the coming celebration were already being launched. A potential summoner was already waiting for the ritual to reach completion, and at the stroke of midnight, he was to be summoned in the skies over head.

"Father," he called. When the man returned Yumeko continued. "I must ask a favour of you. I want you to delay my first summoning."

"Until when?" he replied, uncertain of where this was leading.

"Sunrise. I wish to be present at the morning sendings."

"May I ask why?"

"It is personal, just promise me that you will wait till then before you summon Bahamut."


End file.
